A Look Inside The Yankee Universe (and around the world of baseball)

Game 30: Yankees vs. Red Sox

The rivalry wraps up with a Sunday night game that pits AJ Burnett against John Lester. The Red Sox are desperate for a good start, and Lester seems like their best bet to get one. In his last three games, Lester is 2-0 with a 0.44 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. The Yankees have had some recent success against Lester, however, so one of those trends will come to an end.

In order for the Yankees to finish up the sweep, and move into sole possession of first place, AJ Burnett will also have to buck a recent trend. Since joining the Yankees, Burnett has not earned a victory over Boston. He comes into tonight’s outing riding the best start of his career, including a current string of 19 innings without an earned run.

The Yankees will need Burnett to be on his game because the bullpen will be short. Although Mariano Rivera is ready to pitch the ninth, Alfredo Aceves is unavailable with a stiff back. With David Robertson struggling, Sergio Mitre starting tomorrow and Romulu Sanchez untested, much of the relief burden will fall on Joba Chamberlain, Damaso Marte and Boone Logan.

After a series of injury setbacks, the Yankees get Jorge Posada back in the lineup. Posada will serve as a DH, which allows the hot hitting Francisco Cervelli to remain in the lineup. Marcus Thames also gets a start in LF against the lefty Lester, while Gardner returns to the last slot in the order. For the Red Sox, Big Papi gets the nod against the righty Burnett.

vs. Jon Lester

PA

BA

OBP

SLG

HR

RBI

Derek Jeter SS

29

0.370

0.414

0.370

0

2

Nick Swisher RF

22

0.188

0.364

0.500

1

3

Mark Teixeira 1B

17

0.235

0.235

0.412

1

2

Alex Rodriguez 3B

20

0.263

0.300

0.684

2

5

Robinson Cano 2B

25

0.261

0.280

0.348

0

2

Jorge Posada DH

17

0.200

0.294

0.200

0

0

Marcus Thames LF

0

0.000

0.000

0.000

0

0

Francisco Cervelli C

0

0.000

0.000

0.000

0

0

Brett Gardner CF

0

0.000

0.000

0.000

0

0

Total

130

0.265

0.315

0.419

4

14

vs. AJ Burnett

PA

BA

OBP

SLG

HR

RBI

Marco Scutaro SS

23

0.286

0.348

0.333

0

0

Dustin Pedroia 2B

37

0.286

0.459

0.500

2

4

Victor Martinez C

26

0.316

0.500

0.579

1

3

Kevin Youkilis 1B

35

0.241

0.343

0.345

1

6

J.D. Drew RF

33

0.250

0.364

0.357

0

4

David Ortiz DH

37

0.250

0.270

0.611

3

8

Adrian Beltre 3B

30

0.286

0.333

0.536

1

5

Jeremy Hermida LF

3

0.000

0.333

0.000

0

0

Darnell McDonald CF

0

0.000

0.000

0.000

0

0

Total

224

0.267

0.362

0.466

8

30

Yankees vs. Red Sox

Season: 2010

Season: 2009

Season: 2008

All-Time

NYY: 4-1

TIED: 9-9

TIED: 9-9

NYY: 1121-934

Alex Rodriguez next home run will tie Frank Robinson for seventh on the all-time list. Arod has been stuck on 585 HRs for 61 at bats. Arod’s longest homer-less streak occurred over 72 ABs in 2009, a stretch that was snapped when he went deep against Boston in the 15th inning of a game on August 7.

Since signing with the Yankees, Mark Teixeira has hit nine home runs and knocked in 21 runs against the Red Sox.